A century of swing
To celebrate the centenary of the birth of legendary guitar genius Django Reinhardt, London’s only Gypsy Swing/jazz venue will be presenting a brilliantly diverse lively festival of the music he created. Featuring a host of some of Europe’s finest Gypsy Swing/jazz performers, some of whom have never played in the UK, Le QuecumBar will be giving audiences the rare chance to experience first-hand the music of one of the 20th Century’s greatest musical icons.
French Gypsy Jean ‘Django’ Reinhardt is widely regarded as the single most influential guitarists ever to have lived. 
Born on the 23rd January 1910, he quickly he was a uniquely gifted and imaginative player. Even after severely injuring his left hand at the age of 18 in a caravan fire, Reinhardt created new chords and techniques to work around his disability so he could continue his career, and became a leader on Europe’s jazz scene, with longstanding associations with the likes of Stéphane Grappelli, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and many other musical giants.
He single-handedly raised Gypsy swing/jazz, or ‘jazz Manouche’, to the popular consciousness in the early part of the 20th Century. Reinhardt’s influence continues to this day, with many of the world’s best guitar players naming him as a towering presence in their own careers – players such as Hank Marvin, Bill Wyman, Jimi Hendrix, Jose Feliciano, Biréli Lagrène, Mark Knopfler, Wes Montgomery and Jeff Beck have all expressed their admiration for Reinhardt’s genius.
In January 2010, London’s only authentic cafe-jazz venue Le QuecumBar, will be celebrating what would have been Django’s one hundredth birthday in style. With seating for 65 people its 1930s, pre-war Parisien atmosphere offers a truly unique, intimate live experience that lets audiences get up close and personal with Gypsy musicians from across Europe.
Sylvia Rushbrooke from Le QuecumBar says “The Festival line-up represents not just traditional Hot Club Gypsy swing/jazz but the way others have fused it with their own styles. It will place Gypsy swing/jazz centre stage, showcasing the richness and variety of the music.”
The Festival will open with 24 year old David Reinhardt, Django’s grandson and a well-known jazz solo guitarist in his own right, alongside Adrien Moignard and Sebastien Giniaux, highly talented musicians on the contemporary Parisien jazz scene. The festival’s full line-up will include appearances from the UK’s Fleur De Paris, Les Doigts de l’Homme from France, Belgium’s Tcha Limberger Trio, patron Biel Ballester Trio from Spain, German Gypsy group Gypsy Connection, the Dutch guitar masters and cousins patron Lollo Meier and Stochelo Rosenberg and the young patron Ritary Gaguenetti from France (the latter being Sinti Gypsies, the same tribe as Django himself).
Workshops are being arranged around London with the masters giving guitarists the chance to learn from the stars and perhaps for the first time an opportunity to learn directly from the Gypsies themselves, who pass the music down by ear alone.
For more information, see:
http://www.quecumbar.co.uk/django100.html
